"Because of the special interest manifested in the last few days by the press related to Neymar, Santos Futebol Clube officially informs that the information that it has sold the economic rights of Neymar is not true," reads the statement.

"The club's board of directors always had the intention of keeping Neymar in the team and for that has built a very promising career plan to make his stay in Brazil viable.

"For months now the board of directors of Santos Futebol Clube has been approached by several foreign clubs interested in Neymar, including clubs from Spain.

"Neymar and his family always mention the intention of making the transfer to Europe at some point in the future as part of the project for the international career of the player.

"The board of directors of Santos Futebol Clube will manifest itself again in the case of any relevant topic emerging in this context and reaffirms its drive to count on Neymar's talent for many more matches, championships and finals."